Who knew Job was a social activist?

I cannot believe that in the past year, in all the sermons that I have listened to and all the books or articles that I have read about social justice, serving the poor, being authentic, no one ever pointed at the clearest and best passage regarding serving the poor in the whole Bible. Because of my time here in Ghana, I have been doing a survey in the Bible to look at every time the Word says "poor." We so easily get caught up in the idea that Jesus was either a poor marginalized hippie or a staunch right wing preacher that thrust what we think the "correct" Christian life should be into these two opposing camps which are impossible for any of us to actually live out i.e. Perfectly Just Sacrifice or Perfect Self-Righteousness.
The story of Job has always bothered me. Yeah it is a great theological and literary work about the Sovereignty of God, but in the end he gets rich again. I was so troubled because the moral of the story always seemed to be "Just stick it out during the suffering and God will bless you in the end, don't you worry." That was until I came across this passage the other night.
In the passage below Job is justifying himself before his friends and God Himself. He is describing why he was so respected in his community, why men looked up to him, why people loved him, why he knew that he was above the reproach of his adversaries and he says:

11When the ear heard, it called me blessed,
and when the eye saw, it approved,
12because I delivered the poor who cried for help,
and the fatherless who had none to help him.
13The blessing of him who was about to perish came upon me,
and I caused the widow's heart to sing for joy.
14I put on righteousness, and it clothed me;
my justice was like a robe and a turban.
15I was eyes to the blind
and feet to the lame.
16I was a father to the needy,
and I searched out the cause of him whom I did not know.
17I broke the fangs of the unrighteous
and made him drop his prey from his teeth.

Job heard the cry of the oppressed, he did not turn a deaf ear. I was shocked when Job said that he searched out the cause of him whom he did not know. It is so hard to defend the causes that are right in front of your face. What does it mean to clothe yourself in righteousness, to wear justice like a robe? It is to seek out the causes of the oppressed, to deliver the poor, to love the fatherless, care for the helpless.
Only this man, when he lost absolutely everything, could fall down and worship God. Only this man could stand up to his wife when she tempted him with a Prosperity Gospel. Only this man could truly be above reproach when his friends accused him of unrighteousness. No wonder Satan wanted to test Job. Job was breaking his fangs and snatching prey from his teeth. No wonder God had so much faith in Job. He knew him, he knew his heart. He gave him the grace to be merciful. Praise God that he restored Job's finances, so that Job could continue to liberate that which Satan had wrongfully taken hold of. Thank God for this passage, thank God for Job.