Job 31:5 Commentary and Bible Study

Job invites God to search his heart and to discover any falsehood within him. He positively wants to be examined by God and to be evaluated according to God’s perfect standard, because there is no other standard that he considers to be safe. If he does not pass this test then he knows there is no other test that has any real value. If his heart is not approved by God, then it does not matter who else it is approved by; he is condemned. Does this request mean that Job was confident that he could stand in his own merit? Certainly not. He has already said of all men including himself, ‘Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean?’ (14:4). He is not speaking of perfect righteousness which no one has ever possessed except Christ, but he is speaking of inner integrity that governs the heart. The righteous man may sin but he confesses his sin to God and asks for forgiveness. He sets before his eyes the standard of holiness knowing that unless he attains to that standard he will not see the Lord. He will never fully reach it until this body of death is removed, but he must always be moving towards it. Therefore Job wants to be searched just as David requested to be searched: ‘Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: ²⁴ And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting’ (Psalm 139:23-24).Nevertheless, later, Job spoke in very different terms about himself, and lost the confidence which he appeared to have at this moment. Seeing the glory of God more clearly, he saw himself more clearly also, and immediately compared himself to dust and ashes in the sight of the Lord. Yes, he did possess integrity, but if even the angels veil their faces before the Lord, how much more the fallen sons of men.