God has given in His word a picture of a prosperous man--one whose life was in the truest sense a success, a man whom both heaven and earth delighted to honor. Of his experiences Job himself says: "In the ripeness of my days, When the secret of God was upon my tent; When the Almighty was yet with me, And my children were about me; . . . When I went forth to the gate unto the city, When I prepared my seat in the broad place [margin], The young men saw me and hid themselves, And the aged rose up and stood; The princes refrained talking, And laid their hand on their mouth; The voice of the nobles was hushed. . . . "For when the ear heard me, then it blessed me; And when the eye saw me, it gave witness unto me; Because I delivered the poor that cried, The fatherless also, and him [margin], that had none to help him. "The blessing of him that was ready to perish came upon me; And I caused the widow's heart to sing for joy. I put on righteousness, and it clothed me: My justice was as a robe and a diadem. I was eyes to the blind, And feet was I to the lame. I was a father to the needy: And the cause of him that I knew not I searched out." "The stranger did not lodge in the street: But I opened my doors to the traveler." "Unto me men gave ear, and waited. . . . And the light of my countenance they cast not down. I chose out their way, and sat chief, And dwelt as a king in the army, As one that

Gud har i sit ord givet et billede af et lykkeligt menneske en, hvis liv i ordets sande betydning var lykkedes, en mand, som både Himmel og jord frydede sig over at ære. Job siger selv om sine erfaringer: