If I rejoiced at the destruction of him that hated me, and exulted when evil befell him;
Job has finished answering his friends and is now speaking under oath about his own past life. In this verse he speaks about how he treated people who wished him harm. He denies that he ever enjoyed their downfall — a strange thing for a man to raise in his own defence.
Job builds the whole chapter as a legal defence. He lists the charges his friends bring and swears he is clear of each one.
Having spoken these sorrowful complaints, Job closed his long speech. As we see in Job 31, he ended it with a series of solemn declarations that almost amounted to oaths. His friends had accused him of definite sins and wrongdoing. As to these things his conscience was clear, though, as we have seen, he admitted he was not pure in the sight of God. So he strongly affirmed that he had not committed the kinds of evil that were alleged or hinted at.
Job rules out two things: private pleasure at an enemy's ruin, and any profit he might take from it. The next verse extends the same denial to what Job said out loud.
It was clearly a concern to him that he should not rejoice when trouble came to one who hated him. He would not use such an occasion to profit from that person's misfortune either (v.29). In fact, he had not even allowed his mouth to sin by asking for a curse on that person's soul (v.30). Actually, this is only normal for one who has faith in the Lord Jesus (Rom. 12:20), so it was no reason for Job to boast.
Job denies that he ever gloated over a fallen enemy. What he rules out is not an act, but a small pleasure taken in another person's trouble.
This is a very common snare for people. They take a little pleasure when their adversaries come to grief, or are troubled.
Job does not leave this as a private claim about his own heart. He points to the people who lived in his house and could contradict him.
Job's strong point is his kindness to his fellow men. Here he declares that even to his enemies he had been just. He had not been glad at their calamity, nor even in secret wished a curse to blight their life. He could call the men of his own household to bear witness.
Job lived long before Israel received the law at Sinai, and before anyone had written a word of Scripture. Yet his conscience reaches past his conduct into the motives of his heart.
This closing burst of indignant self-defence on Job's part is both interesting and instructive. The law had its value, for God does nothing in vain. Yet we can see how high the moral standard already was for the soul and the walk of godly men outside Israel. It was high before the law came from Sinai, as we see in the patriarchs of Genesis. This is not only a matter of right and wrong, which conscience could judge more or less exactly, according to how much light a person had. We also see what divine revelation did in the soul, in its affections and its judgments. God had spoken words. He had also worked in solemn ways with people, one by one and all together, in grace and in judgment. All this was long before He inspired men to write His mind. Faith received His word and thought over His dealings, to rich profit, before there was any Scripture — though Scripture, once given, added much to the blessing of those who had it.
Everything Job says here is accurate. The problem is not what he says, but what saying it does for him.
The friends were wholly wrong, unjustifiable, and unloving. What Job says was true, but he does not yet know all the truth about himself. No one could learn that truth from God until He came who is the Truth, and proved it in grace to the uttermost in His cross. But Job was occupied and satisfied with himself. From this God would deliver him, and bless him more than ever. No flesh shall glory in His presence; and this Job must learn — to glory only in Him.
- Oath. The verse belongs to a sworn defence. Job answers each charge by swearing he never did it.
- Heart. What he denies is not an action but a feeling — gladness at the ruin of a man who hated him, and any gain taken from that ruin.
- Mouth. The denial then reaches his speech. He never let his mouth ask for a curse on that man's life, and his household could testify.
- Early. Job held this standard before Sinai and before a word of Scripture existed. Conscience and God's own revelation had already shaped godly men outside Israel.
- Not enough. Every word of it is true, and still it is not enough. Job is satisfied with himself, and God means to bring him to glory only in Him.
(Neither have I suffered my mouth to sin by asking his life with a curse;)
Job's last speech is his great effort to justify his whole life, and here he reaches the people who hated him. He never celebrated their downfall, and he never even asked out loud for their ruin — but can a record that clean quiet a troubled conscience before God?
The verse belongs with the one before it. Job is describing how he acted when trouble struck someone who wished him harm. Here he moves the claim from his actions to his speech — to the curse that would have asked for that man's life.
Job speaks now of his attitude toward mankind in general. It clearly mattered to him that he should not rejoice when trouble came to someone who hated him. He would not use such a moment to profit from that person's misfortune (v.29). In fact, he had not even allowed his mouth to sin by asking for a curse on that person's soul (v.30). This is only normal for someone who has faith in the Lord Jesus (Rom. 12:20), so it was no reason for Job to boast.
The test Job applies goes deeper than public behaviour. A person can keep a straight face and still hope for an enemy's collapse.
Job's strong point is his kindness to his fellow men. Here he declares that even to his enemies he had been just. He had not been glad at their trouble, nor even secretly wished a curse to blight their life. He could call the men of his own household as witnesses.
Job's claim sounds unremarkable until you measure yourself by it. Is this a rare temptation, or a common one?
"If I have rejoiced at the ruin of him who hated me, or exulted when evil overtook him" — a very common snare for people. They take a little pleasure when their adversaries come to grief, or are in trouble. "I have not let my mouth sin by asking for his life with a curse."
Another summary of this defence puts it sharper still: Job rules out the wish as well as the word.
He most solemnly disowns all joy over an enemy's disaster, though he had not asked for it in even the most indirect way.
Why should a single sentence matter so much? One commentator, writing about the tongue, points to who the other person is.
The great principle is plain beyond all question. No inconsistency could be worse than to use the tongue one moment to bless God, and the next to curse men God made in His own likeness. We are the objects of His loving purposes. God has blessed us out of sheer mercy, so we should be the last to curse anyone. Instead of cursing others, we want them to obey the truth and share the blessing. We want them to join us in blessing Him who is the source and giver of it all.
Nothing in Job's claim is false. The question is what a clean record can actually do for him.
He had a perfectly good conscience, but that is not enough. There is the great principle of self-judgment. There is also the great principle of complete submission to God and of clearing His name. He is right and wise in everything, not only in what He does, but in what He allows. It is all for good.
Another writer names the danger in speaking about yourself like this.
But we must notice the self-righteousness that moved Job to speak of himself like this. He was putting himself on show rather than giving glory to God. No doubt he was at bottom a genuinely godly man, but there is no glory in setting out one's own glory.
Job 31 lists one good act after another, and verse 30 belongs on the list. But where does the list leave Job himself?
So he lets memory recount every good act of his life, but it all fails to give rest to his troubled spirit. I, I, I — I did this, I did not do that. But it is all of no use.
- Heart. Job denies the inward pleasure people take when an enemy comes to grief — commentators call it a very common snare.
- Mouth. He would not let his speech do what his heart refused. Cursing a man made in God's likeness contradicts blessing God.
- Witness. He never even wished the curse in private, and he could call his own household to vouch for him.
- Conscience. A clear conscience is real, but not enough on its own. Beyond it lie self-judgment and full submission to God.
- Rest. Every good act recalled still leaves the spirit unsettled — "I did this, I did not do that" cannot give peace.