If I sin, you watch me and do not acquit me of my iniquity.
Job is pouring out his case to God, asking Him to show why these disasters have come. Here he names the rule he believes he lives under: God marks every sin and will not clear him of it.
The Mood of Chapter 10
The chapter follows Job's admission that God is not a man he can argue with. One writer traces how Job then swings between confessing sin and insisting he is not wicked:
F. B. HoleHe had just said of God, "He is not a man, as I am." So he knew that he was as nothing before His holy eyes, which searched him through and through. In verse 6 he again admitted "iniquity" and "sin," yet in the next verse he said, "You know that I am not wicked."
Watched, and Not Let Off
The verse has two halves: God notices the sin, and God does not clear the sinner of it. One writer notes that Job had already asked pardon for anything he did not know about. Job's tone has now softened:
William Kelly"I know that this is with You. If I sin, You watch me and do not acquit me of my iniquity." He asked God to forgive him if there was anything he did not know about. "If I am wicked, woe to me; and if I am righteous, I still will not lift up my head." No, he is truly humble now — or at least on the way to it.
No Way Out Either Way
Sin brings judgment; innocence brings no relief. One writer points to what Job did not yet know:
Leslie M. GrantOn the one hand, Job knew that if he sinned God would mark it and not acquit him. At that time Job did not know "the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ." For sin he could only expect "woe." On the other hand, he could not lift up his head even if he was righteous — and he believed he was. He was in a state of misery and confusion, full of disgrace.
The Accusation Hidden in the Words
Job is not only describing God. He is putting God in the dock. Taken with the verses that follow, his logic makes God out to be something terrible:
Samuel RidoutIf he is innocent, he dare not lift his head, for God would quickly hunt him like a fierce lion seeking its prey. God would display His wondrous power, and bring up witnesses against him like a countless host of invaders. In other words, Job declares he is at the mercy of an almighty, arbitrary enemy!
Why This Is Everyone's Problem
Job's dead end is not unique to him. Anyone meets it who stands before God as Judge and pleads his own record:
Charles StanleyPoor Job! He does not know now which way to turn. And is this not the case with every believer the moment he gets before God as Judge? How can he or you be just before God? Would not one sin of a thousand utterly condemn you?
The Missing Mediator
Job's own complaint was that no one stood between himself and God — no "daysman," as the older wording puts it. One writer shows who filled that place, and how God can now acquit without ceasing to be righteous:
William Kelly"Neither is there any daysman between us." That is what Christ became. Christ became the mediator between God and men. He is not only a mediator, but a mediator who is as truly divine as the God before whom He acts as mediator for us. If there had not been the hand of God in the cross, there could have been no divine redemption. It was God who forsook His Son; it was God who turned His face away from Him. So what God now brings in is His own righteousness. And there is nothing against that. But it is a justifying righteousness; it is not a condemning righteousness. The same God who condemned under the law saved under grace, because of Christ.
God's desire toward Job was not what Job feared. One writer asks who put God on the judgment seat in the first place:
W. T. P. WolstonThe common thought is that God is our Judge, and so He is. But who made Him a Judge? Who put God on the judgment seat? You did! I did! The sin and guilt of man have forced God into the place of judgment. God must judge sin. Otherwise God and man would be alike, neither of them thinking much about it, and there would be no righteousness. But He has no desire to take the place of judgment. Even here, to Job, He says, "I desire to justify you" (Job 33:32).
Summary
- Marked. Job's premise is that God notices every sin and will not clear him of it — an eye that searches him through and through.
- Cornered. Guilty brings woe; righteous brings no lifted head. Job can find no verdict he can live with from either side.
- Accused. Pressed to its end, his reasoning makes God an almighty enemy who hunts him.
- Universal. The same dead end meets anyone who stands before God as Judge on his own record. One sin out of a thousand would condemn.
- Answered. What Job lacked was a mediator. Christ became that mediator. The righteousness that once condemned now justifies, and God's word to Job was "I desire to justify you."