JOB’S LIFE OF INTEGRITY

Job 31:1-40 / Keywords 31:1

I made a covenant with my eyes not to look lustfully at a girl.

 

31:1 “I made a covenant with my eyes

    not to look lustfully at a young woman.

2 For what is our lot from God above,

    our heritage from the Almighty on high?

3 Is it not ruin for the wicked,

    disaster for those who do wrong?

4 Does he not see my ways

    and count my every step?

5 “If I have walked with falsehood

    or my foot has hurried after deceit—

6 let God weigh me in honest scales

    and he will know that I am blameless—

7 if my steps have turned from the path,

    if my heart has been led by my eyes,

    or if my hands have been defiled,

8 then may others eat what I have sown,

    and may my crops be uprooted.

9 “If my heart has been enticed by a woman,

    or if I have lurked at my neighbor’s door,

10 then may my wife grind another man’s grain,

    and may other men sleep with her.

11 For that would have been wicked,

    a sin to be judged.

12 It is a fire that burns to Destruction[a];

    it would have uprooted my harvest.

13 “If I have denied justice to any of my servants,

    whether male or female,

    when they had a grievance against me,

14 what will I do when God confronts me?

    What will I answer when called to account?

15 Did not he who made me in the womb make them?

    Did not the same one form us both within our mothers?

16 “If I have denied the desires of the poor

    or let the eyes of the widow grow weary,

17 if I have kept my bread to myself,

    not sharing it with the fatherless—

18 but from my youth I reared them as a father would,

    and from my birth I guided the widow—

19 if I have seen anyone perishing for lack of clothing,

    or the needy without garments,

20 and their hearts did not bless me

    for warming them with the fleece from my sheep,

21 if I have raised my hand against the fatherless,

    knowing that I had influence in court,

22 then let my arm fall from the shoulder,

    let it be broken off at the joint.

23 For I dreaded destruction from God,

    and for fear of his splendor I could not do such things.

24 “If I have put my trust in gold

    or said to pure gold, ‘You are my security,’

25 if I have rejoiced over my great wealth,

    the fortune my hands had gained,

26 if I have regarded the sun in its radiance

    or the moon moving in splendor,

27 so that my heart was secretly enticed

    and my hand offered them a kiss of homage,

28 then these also would be sins to be judged,

    for I would have been unfaithful to God on high.

29 “If I have rejoiced at my enemy’s misfortune

    or gloated over the trouble that came to him—

30 I have not allowed my mouth to sin

    by invoking a curse against their life—

31 if those of my household have never said,

    ‘Who has not been filled with Job’s meat?’—

32 but no stranger had to spend the night in the street,

    for my door was always open to the traveler—

33 if I have concealed my sin as people do,[b]

    by hiding my guilt in my heart

34 because I so feared the crowd

    and so dreaded the contempt of the clans

    that I kept silent and would not go outside—

35 (“Oh, that I had someone to hear me!

    I sign now my defense—let the Almighty answer me;

    let my accuser put his indictment in writing.

36 Surely I would wear it on my shoulder,

    I would put it on like a crown.

37 I would give him an account of my every step;

    I would present it to him as to a ruler.)—

38 “if my land cries out against me

    and all its furrows are wet with tears,

39 if I have devoured its yield without payment

    or broken the spirit of its tenants,

40 then let briers come up instead of wheat

    and stinkweed instead of barley.”

The words of Job are ended.

Footnotes

a. Job 31:12 Hebrew Abaddon

b. Job 31:33 Or as Adam did

1. Job’s friends had been telling him that he was being punished because of secret sins he had committed. So here, Job gives a detailed defense of his own integrity. He didn’t just talk about a holy life; he did what was necessary to live one.

 

2. Job understood what kind of commitment is needed to resist sinful desires, so to keep himself from adultery, he made “a covenant with his eyes” (1). He provided justice to anyone who came to him with a grievance (13). He gave to support those less fortunate than himself (16-20). He was careful not to idolize money or anything else (24-28). He even practiced love of his enemies, as Jesus taught (29). He lived this way because he kept God’s glory in his mind (23). This doesn’t mean that Job lived a perfect or sinless life. But Job’s integrity gave him confidence when facing false accusations (35-37).

 

3. We cannot fully measure up to Job’s example. But Job’s principles are a standard for us to aim at, with Jesus’ grace as a starting point. We do it not for an earthly reward, but because we live before God.

 

Prayer Father, thank you for teaching me to fight hard against sinful desires. Help me keep my integrity before you even if there seems to be no reward for it.

One Word A life of integrity