Job 5:9-11 (God) doeth great things and unsearchable; marvelous things without number: Who giveth rain upon the earth, and sendeth waters upon the fields: To set up on high those that be low; that those which mourn may be exalted to safety.
Eliphaz, Job’s friend, is speaking in response to Job’s despondency and despair, basically saying that he should seek God for He does great things. Although the friends “have not spoken of Me the thing which is right,” God says, sometimes they do speak God’s revealed truth. The promise spoken here is a common theme in Scripture: the Lord will exalt the humble and bring down the proud. He sets the lowly on high and exalts mourners. This is the Great Reversal. It is what happened to Jesus and it is what Jesus does for us in death and resurrection.
Jesus promises reversal for the poor, the hungry, those who mourn, etc., and He excoriates the Pharisees and brings down their proud and self-righteous attitude. The lesson for us is simple: the appearance of things in this earthly life is not what’s really going on, and the condition of things now will not remain that way for long and certainly not forever. Take the long view, see the big picture, and believe the promises of God.
If you feel down now, fret not, it won’t stay that way. If you like a nothing now, hang on, God will make something out of you. If you sense sin and guilt now, don’t worry, forgiveness and life is coming. On the other side, if you feel smug and self-satisfied now, snap out of it, the Lord will bring you down to repentance in due time.